Abracadabra! Kayla Drescher works her magic up close

By R. Scott Reedy/For The Patriot Ledger

Tuesday

Sep 11, 2018 at 1:49 PM

People who remember Kayla Drescher as a student at the old Wheelock College in Boston may be surprised to learn that she will be taking the Boch Center Shubert Theatre stage, September 20-23, as one of five illusionists starring in “Champions of Magic.”

“I had no intention of becoming a professional magician when I was in college. I double-majored in theater education and environmental science, with a focus on green energy, and I had a job in the live-animal center at the Museum of Science,” explained Drescher by telephone recently.

After graduation, Drescher landed a full-time position with a private science education company on the North Shore, but soon realized it was not for her.

“I was stuck behind a computer all day and I started playing with paper clips. Pretty soon, I had an epiphany and thought, ‘I need to perform.’

“There’s no cookie-cutter route to becoming a magician, but I knew I had to try. So I quit my day job and started working as a bartender. For the next year, I was hyper-focused on developing my skills as a magician. I even tried some of them out behind the bar,” says Drescher.

The Connecticut native says she was very young when magic first got her attention. And while college took her in a different direction, it never fully derailed her interest in the world of illusion.

“I was in second grade, just starting to do magic tricks, when Harry Blackstone, Jr., passed away on my birthday, May 14, 1997. I was very sad, because already I felt a real connection to his work, especially when he would float a light bulb over the audience,” she says.

Now billing herself as “Magic in Heels,” Drescher is quick to acknowledge that finding female role models has never been easy.

“Growing up, I never saw a woman perform magic. I think I was 17 before I even found another female magician,” says Drescher, who admits that her inspiration often comes from the big-name men in the game.

“David Copperfield taps into emotion with spectacular effects. And I also respect David Blaine for tapping into audience reaction by having the camera shoot right over his shoulder,” she says.

It was while living in Massachusetts that Drescher – who had taken magic classes and attended magic camp as a child – honed her own skills, leading to her being named Boston’s Magician of the Year for 2013.

“That was the culmination of a year of bartending and doing magic. I did many shows at the Frog Pond on Boston Common and elsewhere, performing for everyone who was interested.

“While I was performing, I was also promoting magic around Boston, which was a great building block for my career,” she points out.

That same year, Drescher garnered national attention with appearances on NBC-TV’s “Today Show” as part of its “Magic Mondays with David Copperfield” segments.

Competing against two other finalists, she performed a bottle cap trick, seamlessly swapping out Heineken caps with Sam Adams and Bud Light tops. Copperfield was so impressed that he chose Drescher as winner of his “Search for the Next Great Magician,” awarding her a trophy and a trip to Las Vegas to see him perform.

Joining Drescher on the international tour of “Champions of Magic” are fellow magicians Young & Strange and Alex McAleer from the United Kingdom, and Mexico native Fernando Velasco, performing various acts of levitation, teleportation and disappearances.

“Our show has something for everyone. Young audiences will feel the wonder and see that the impossible can happen and the adults will feel like children again,” says the performer.

And while Drescher lives in Los Angeles, she continues to call upon what she learned in Boston to make her act all her own.

“I like to perform magic that involves a character, a story, and emotion, as opposed to me being some kind of all-knowing wizard who hands you a chosen card.

“My magic is laced with a ton of comedy. It’s all about having fun and getting the audience involved. And I’m a close-up magician, so I’ll be up and down the aisles of the Shubert,” she says.

Drescher also plans to be up and down some familiar streets when she is in town.

“I’m so excited to be heading back to Boston. It is the most wonderful city and I genuinely love it. I miss it, too.

“None of my castmates have been to Boston before, so I’m going to play tour guide and take them everywhere and make sure they see everything,” she says.

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